The NYT`s Archibold writes that the GAO [Government Accountability Office] reported last year that

"… the annual number of reported deaths of border crossers doubled to 472 between 1995 and 2005, with the majority of those deaths in the desert near Tucson. The report suggested the agency has undercounted deaths because of inconsistent classification."

Pima County has a warehouse containing 164 cadavers which have never been identified. One skeleton found in that county was in such bad shape they couldn`t tell if it were male or female.

Illegal border crossers die because of natural causes (dehydration and exposure to the elements) and because of violence (from criminals, including smugglers).

Some of the illegal aliens die from the heat. In the U.S. Army—I just got back from Iraq—we learned the dangers of becoming a "heat casualty." There are three stages, each successively worse: heat cramps, heat exhaustion and heat stroke, which is life-threatening. By the time you get to the heat stroke stage, you can`t even sweat anymore. Soldiers are trained to watch out for such conditions and to avoid them. But still, it happens.

It`s an ongoing human tragedy. But whose fault is it? And what`s the solution?

Mexicans, needless to say, blame the U.S. government for the problem. After all, when we fence off part of the border, they are "obliged" to cross somewhere else.

Of course, this argument implies that Mexicans simply have to cross the border. Incredibly, President Bush seems to believe the same thing.

On October 19th, at a conference of Mexican governors, Foreign Minister Patricia Espinosa announced that, as of that date, 345 Mexicans had died trying to cross the border in 2007. So did she tell Mexicans not to risk their lives crossing the desert?

Every day such tragedies occur. So why so much emphasis on deaths of Mexicans on the border?

It`s because the Mexican government (and its American collaborators) are utilizing these tragic yet completely avoidable deaths to promote an agenda. They are blaming the U.S. government, in order to obtain an amnesty and complete open borders.

Are their deaths less tragic than those of Mexicans who die in the desert?

Like the Mexican government, American activist groups in the Southwest also blame the U.S. government for border deaths. Humane Borders has set up 80 water stations in the desert for illegal aliens. The organization`s funding comes from liberal churches, corporate sponsors (including Univision) and the Pima County Board of Supervisors (a.k.a. Pima County taxpayers).

Founder Robin Hoover describes Humane Borders as "just a group of religious folks working toward saving lives and getting the INS to change its policies."

What policies? Well, Humane Borders` legislative goals include the legalization of illegal aliens currently in the U.S., a guest worker program, more visas for Mexicans and the demilitarization of the border.

(Demilitarization of the border? When was the U.S. side of the border ever militarized? Of course, with typical hypocrisy, Mexico does have troops on its side of the border. In fact, the Mexican Army performs police functions throughout the country.)

The deaths on the border of Mexicans, and what seems to be an increasing number of other nationalities, is indeed a tragedy. But it is a completely avoidable tragedy. It doesn`t have to happen. These people don`t have to die.

Ironically, most of the activists who oppose the border wall bemoan the loss of life on the border.

But building that wall would save Mexican lives.

The Mexican government opposes the wall. Though Mexican leaders shed crocodile tears over Mexicans who die in the desert, for them the illegal aliens are just pawns in a strategy to expand their political power.

"Border enforcement is another question in the Great American Immigration Debate that must be refocused. The question should not be: `How can we be cruel enough to enforce the law on the border?` The question should really be: `How can we be cruel enough not to enforce it?`

That was (an Ed Rubenstein estimate) some 6.25 million illegal aliens ago.

American citizen Allan Wall (emailhim) resides in Mexico, with a legal permit issued him by the Mexican government. Allan recently returned from a tour of duty in Iraq with the Texas Army National Guard. His VDARE.COM articles are archived here; his FRONTPAGEMAG.COM articles are archived herehis "Dispatches from Iraq" are archived herehis website is here.